Columbus can learn from death of NY man
Almost one year ago, a man named Daniel Prude died in police custody in Rochester, N.Y.
Coming as it did during the immediate onset of a global health pandemic, Prude's death received none of the widespread public attention that would erupt two months later, after the similar in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Prude's death drew greater scrutiny only last September, after police in Rochester finally released reports and officer body camera footage of the lethal confrontation.
Columbus seems poised to learn from Prude's death and change the types of calls that police are now asked to handle. While the future of police reform both locally and nationally remains clouded, this particular change in philosophy is a no-brainer.
As part of a series of recent public forums hosted by the Columbus City Council, mental health experts said reconfiguring the types of calls handled by police, many of them non-emergency and non-criminal in nature, makes sense for everyone involved, including police officers.
“I can tell you that behind closed doors, officers will tell you that frequently they look at each other and say, ‘We shouldn't be taking this call,'” said one panelist, Tom Thompson, a former assistant chief of police in Miamisburg and now executive director of police and security for the Kettering Health Network in suburban Dayton.
“It may be mental-health related or a civil dispute,” he said at a January forum. “Cops want to be cops, and having a civilian-responder program can save them several hours a day and they can use that to focus on extra patrol or building relationships in their community.”
Rochester police encountered Prude, 41, in the midst of a mental health crisis complicated by drug use. Summoned by Prude's brother, officers found Daniel Prude walking naked down a street. He initially complied with officers, then grew agitated.
They put a spit hood over his head and held him face down on the pavement for more than two minutes.
He later died of complications of asphyxia while being restrained, and his death was ruled a homicide.
While the police bear the brunt of the blame for deaths like these, they occur in large part because society has abdicated its responsibility to provide adequate mental health treatment resources for our families, friends and neighbors. Instead, we foisted the job of dealing with them upon officers.
Cases like the death of Daniel Prude show that police often are illequipped to deal with a person in the midst of a mental health crisis. A 2015 study by the Treatment Advocacy Center found that people with untreated mental illness were 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter than other civilians approached or stopped by law enforcement.
This month, the city reported that feedback from the public forums and a 4,000-person survey underscored support for having social service and mental health professionals respond to many of the non-violent calls for service now answered by police.
“Even the best-trained and friendliest officers can be intimidating due to their badge, handcuffs, marked police vehicle, uniform, weapons, and ultimate authority to arrest,” wrote Kerstin Sjoberg, executive director of the group Disability Rights Ohio. “This imbalance of power inherently escalates an already tense situation.”
The group urged city leaders to use as a framework a program begun more than 30 years ago in Eugene, Oregon. Called CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets), the program diverts many police calls to a local clinic that specializes in mental health and addiction issues.
“Ensuring people with disabilities are supported and protected by our community is essential to any meaningful reform efforts,” Sjoberg wrote. “Even non-policing response systems can be harmful if forced treatment, involuntary hospitalization, institutionalization are the outcomes. Thus, community-based crisis intervention services (including peer support services) must exist and be fully funded as true alternatives.” The bottom line? “Investments targeting the root causes of societal problems would go a long way in making our communities stronger and safer,” Sjoberg wrote. “To cite one example: while law enforcement is not the appropriate response to homelessness, homelessness should also not be a reality for any person in Columbus.” tdecker@dispatch.com @Theodore_decker
The Columbus Symphony will perform “Schubert’s Welcome to Spring” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St. Tickets cost $39. Socially-distanced seating and facial coverings are required for the 300 attendees. Visit columbussymphony.com.
The New Albany Symphony Orchestra will perform “Musical Giants” at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Mccoy Center for the Arts, 100 W. Dublin-granville Road, New Albany. A sensory-friendly version of the concert, “A Whale of a Time,” will take place at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Tickets cost $12 for the sensory-friendly performance on Saturday. The Sunday performance is sold out. Both concerts will be livestreamed ($8 Saturday; $20 Sunday). Visit newalbanysymphony. com.